Rutherford Head went ahead in surprisingly mild and bright conditions on November 30th with a full entry of 287 taking on the 4.5km time trial over the Championship course on the River Tyne.
Starting the first division at low tide allowed both divisions to be rowed with the flood tide and resulted in some fast times.
With entries drawn from far and wide Edinburgh, Newcastle and Durham Universities dominated the Senior events, and there was success for those from further afield with Abingdon School performing well in the J18 events, placing three J18 eights in the top 22 places in division 1.
Open 8+ band 3
Edinburgh University was the fastest Open 8+ in a time of 13.21.0 and Newcastle University was the fastest Women’s 8+ in 15.27.0.
Collingwood College took the fastest Durham College crew award for Open and Women’s eights in 14.56.2 and 17.35.9 respectively.
Aberdeen Schools won band 2 of WJ18 4x- and Aberdeen Boat Club won band 5 of the Women’s 8+. St Andrew’s University won band 4 of the Open 8+ and band 3 of Women’s 4+, and St Andrew Boat Club took band 2 of the Women’s 4- and band 2 of the Open 4-.
DUR/HEX/TYN MasE 4x-
Durham ARC had 15 entries, nine in division 1 and six in division 2.
Division 1
Competing as an eight for the first time in the season the Senior Men placed 7th in band 3 of the Open 8+ in 15.40.0, the event being won by Durham University.
Next to start in division 1, after the disappointment of the Veteran Fours Head cancellation the previous Saturday, was the Durham/Hexham/Tyne ARC composite Masters E coxless quad with DARC represented by Michael Terry, who completed the course in a fast time of 15.35.0 to take victory in the MasEF 4x- handicap, two minutes ahead of the DARC MasE crew of Gary McCarthy, Dave Murray, George Peattie and Peter Robinson who recorded 17.39.3, and 5 minutes ahead of the Tyne United MasF crew who had the misfortune to run aground in shallow water.
MasD 4-
The Men’s Masters D entered a coxless four, placing 2nd in the MasDFG 4- handicap in 17.12.5, fifty seconds ahead of Tyne ARC MasG on the water but losing out on handicap time.
With 16 entries for the J18 girls coxless quad the DARC WJ18 4x- crew of Izzy Maddison, Becca Burns, Sophie Hancill and Charlotte Foster was 6th in band 1 in 17.17.8 behind the winners from Hexham.
WJ18 4x- band 1
DARC had two entries among the five to start in the MasH 4x-, the only Masters event not to be handicapped. Tees RC crews took the first two places with Ian Boyd, John Appleby, Derek Gordon and David Heppell 3rd in 18.07.0 and Chris Merchant, Vaughan Gordon, Ian Tidmarsh and Dave Green 4th in 18.46.8.
MasH 4x-
The Women’s coxed four stroked by Julia Reavley were up against St Andrew’s, Leeds and York Universities and ran out 6th in band 3 of the Women’s 4+ in 19.38.7.
The second success of the day came from the last DARC entry to start, the Durham/Hexham composite Women’s Masters C eight stroked by Rachel Terry, who were following up their success at the British Rowing Masters Championships in the summer. The crew posted a time of 16.18.3, the fastest of six entries in the event and the third fastest time of the day by a DARC crew to take victory in the WMasCE 8+ handicap, 30 seconds ahead of Aberdeen Boat Club.
MasH 4x-
Div 1 results are available here.
Division 2
DARC entered a Masters E eight and a Masters F eight in Division 2, who found themselves in opposition in a MasDEF 8+ handicap race along with two Tees MasF eights and Tyne ARC MasD and MasF eights. Finishing in 18.10.9 the Men’s MasE 8+ stroked by Peter Matthews and coxed by Matthew Watson, was pushed into 3rd place by the Tees F and Tyne D crews after the application of handicaps. The MasF 8+ was a mixed crew consisting of Heather Hirst, Vickie Jackson, Michael Seed, George Adair, John Lund, Tim Morris, Helen Adair and Angela Lund, coxed by Nigel van Zwanenberg, who finished 5th in19.59.7 on their first competitive outing of the season.
Women’s 4+ band 3
A J18 coxless quad composite with Lambton RC, including Patrick Lakey and Joe Kennedy-Wharton, finished 6th in a strong field in band 2 of the J18 4x- in 18.17.2 behind winners from Glasgow Academy.
There was a second win of the day for the Women’s Masters C crew stroked by Rachel Terry who recorded 19.41.8 in the WMasC 4x-, seven seconds faster on the water than the Hexham part of the composite eight in the WMasB 4x-, to take victory in the WMasBC 4x- handicap.
DUR/HEX WMasC 8+
The Women’s eight stroked by Grace Beattie were in a strong field including several Universities and finished a creditable 5th ahead of three Durham Colleges and Queen Elizabeth High School in 20.20.9.
The final win of the day went to the Women’s Masters F coxless quad of Sam English, Gabrielle Moore, Helen McMillan and Christine Heppell who overcame St Andrew Boat Club, Tyne ARC and Tyne United in a time of 20.29.3.
Division 2 results are available here.
Summary of wins
- MasE 4x- Durham/Hexham/Tyne Oates
- WMasC 8+ Durham/Hexham Waterman
- WMasC 4x- Terry
- WMasF 4x- Heppell
Photos by SI Events are here.
A grand day out has been acknowledged by organizers Tyne ARC as one of the best Rutherford Heads in recent memory. We are grateful to them and to our hosts at Tyne United.
That concludes the competitions on the water for 2024. The British Rowing Indoor Championships takes place in Birmingham on Saturday, and Durham College Rowing hosts the rearranged Novice Cup on Saturday and Sunday. Entries for Tyne United New Years Head on January 25th 2025 will open shortly.